Girl's parents discovered his attempt to meet her, reported it to police

A reservist with the 38 Combat Engineer Regiment based at the McGregor Armoury in Winnipeg has been charged with several counts of luring and possessing child pornography.

Canadian Forces officials said Kyle Hudak, 22, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of his case.

Winnipeg police say Hudak communicated with the girl for two months and was trying to set up a meeting with her when her parents found out and went to police.

Const. Jason Michalyshen said the man's conversations with the teen were sexually graphic and disturbing.

Kyle Hudak, 22, a Winnipeg reservist, has been charged with luring a 13-year-old girl. (Facebook)

"The conversations not only were inappropriate, graphic, and certainly very demeaning towards this young female," he said. "But there was information that was shared between the two and I think would be absolutely very concerning to any adult." He declined to elaborate on what that information was.

Michalyshen said the girl was not harmed, but if the meeting had taken place, the outcome could have been very different.

"They are predators online and they are looking for opportunities," he said. "The bottom line [is], bad things can happen."

The man was arrested April 28. Police raided his home the next day, seizing computers and other items

He was released on a promise to appear but has since been charged with possessing child pornography, and luring a person under 14 years of age.

Wake-up call for parents

Noni Classen, director of education for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said the girl represents the typical victim predators seek out.

"We're seeing that our kids between 13 and 14 were the highest targeted population, females in general," she said.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is working on a lesson for Grades 7 and 8 on how to stay safe online. It's expected to be in Canadian classrooms this fall.

Classen said adults need to give young people the skills to protect themselves now more than ever.

"We need to stay on top of this, which is become a real task for parents," she said. "This has become very complicated. It's not an easy thing."

Classen said this case should be another wake-up call for parents, to keep an eye on what their children are doing online.

Corrections

A previous version of this story stated incorrectly that Kyle Hudak was with the Fort Garry Horse.